Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday during a hearing on improper payments in federal programs. He stated that the improper payment estimate, attributable to 124 programs across 22 agencies in fiscal year 2014 was $124.7 billion, up from $105.8 billion in fiscal year 2013. Dodaro continued that the almost $19 billion increase was primarily due to the Medicare, Medicaid and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) programs, which account for over 75 percent of the government-wide improper payment estimate. (Medicare accounted for $60 billion, and Medicaid for $17.5 billion in 2014.) The Department of Defense does not report improper payments however, as Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) pointed out, so these statistics are actually higher.

Improper payments are defined in statute by Congress. They include any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount (including...